Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Covid-19 cross infection of two guests found at Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong

Covid-19 cross infection of two guests found at Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong

One of the guests had chosen to wear a reusable mask with a valve, which a leading microbiologist called a ‘selfish’ design.

Health officials confirmed on Monday a cross infection between two guests on the same floor of the Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong after they both tested positive for Covid-19 within a week of each other.

One of the guests had chosen to wear a reusable mask with a valve, which a leading microbiologist called a “selfish” design.

As a precaution, authorities ordered all guests staying in 12 other rooms on that floor to extend their isolation for another 14 days and called on every designated quarantine hotel in the city to improve ventilation in their corridors.

Genome sequencing analysis confirmed the two individuals were infected with the same N501Y variant.

Professor Yuen Kwok-yung addresses the media after inspecting the Regal Airport Hotel on Monday.


University of Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said after inspecting the site that he believed the infection came from room 5112, where a 36-year-old male who arrived from South Africa on November 11 had stayed. He was confirmed as positive on Monday last week and had received BioNTech shots in Hong Kong.

According to CCTV surveillance, he had worn a reusable mask with an air filter instead of a surgical one when collecting meals or disposing rubbish on multiple occasions and was even maskless at other times when the door was open.

This could have increased the possibility of the virus spreading to the opposite room, 5111, where the other infected person was staying, a 62-year-old who arrived from Canada on November 10. He tested positive last Saturday and was also fully vaccinated.

“These types of masks are selfish masks,” Yuen said. “These masks filter air when inhaling, but when the air is breathed out through the air valve, it is not filtered, which is not good.”

Twenty-five of 87 environmental samples collected from the two hotel rooms and the corridors on the same floor tested positive for traces of the virus, according to the Department of Health.

Yuen noted that the floor only had two air purifiers for 150 rooms and recommended additional ones be installed.

Authorities said airline, airport and hotel staff should ask any arrivals wearing valve-type masks to replace them with surgical ones.

While hotel guests were already required to wear surgical masks when opening their door to collect meals or dispose of rubbish, Yuen admitted it was difficult to ensure compliance.

“We are already enforcing this rule, but it’s hard to know when the guests are coming out,” he said. “We can’t monitor them for 24 hours and check whether they are wearing masks.”

Separately, the government announced that beginning on Tuesday deep-throat saliva specimens would no longer be accepted for testing purposes.

Previously, only two types of people were permitted to submit such samples – inbound travellers who had stayed in mainland China or Macau and who did not arrive under the “Return2HK”or “Come2HK” schemes, and unvaccinated children under the age of 12 who only stayed in medium-risk countries listed in Group B.

Instead, the arrivals must submit combined nasal and throat swabs at a community testing centre.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×